Chicago Police Handcuffed an Innocent 10-Year-Old

Chicago police are investigating an incident where officers handcuffed an unarmed 10-year-old boy while they questioned him. Video of the incident that took place on Friday, June 1, and obtained by NBC 5 in Chicago shows Michael Thomas Jr., age 10, handcuffed and leaning against the hood of a police car.

“I was scared. I was crying,” Michael told NBC 5 about the encounter. “That’s when they told me I had escaped from juvenile and I had a gun. I said, ‘I didn’t escape from juvenile and I don’t have a gun.’”

According to Newsweek, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson confirmed that police had received a call about a young black man with a gun in the area and that officers believed Michael fit the description. Michael told NBC 5 he was outside his grandmother's house.

“You can see that he doesn’t have any weapons on him,” Michael's grandmother, Yolanda, said in the video, according to NBC 5. “I raised up my grandbaby’s shirt. He don’t have anything on him. Take those handcuffs off of him.”

Police said Michael, who is visibly upset in the cell phone video, ran from them when approached, according to NBC 5. In that video, Michael’s uncle, Victor, is heard questioning officers.

“They’re telling them that someone called them saying that there is a 12-year-old black kid on a bike with all blue on [who] had a gun,” he said in the video, according to NBC 5. “There was about five little black boys with all blue on.”

Johnson said on Wednesday that the department is investigating the incident, but that officers “followed all of the rules and protocols” when they handcuffed the fourth grader, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

“Keep in mind, this is difficult for an officer to tell right off the bat if you’re 10-years-old, 12-years-old, [or] 14,” Johnson said. “So they handcuffed the kid for safety reasons because he did match that description. They followed all the rules and protocols that we have in place. So I’m not concerned about that at all.”

Michael’s mother, Starr Ramsey, said she worries her son will now be too afraid to call police in case of emergency.

“I want answers,” said Ramsey. “You can look at him and tell he no teenager. Ten years old, you get handcuffed? You scarred him for life.” Through tears, she told NBC 5, “We might need him to call the police, but he’s going to be too afraid to even call.”